Chapter 18 - Entanglement
On his way back to the inn, Tang Jinnian passed by a veritable swarm of soldiers hurrying toward the Zhou residence. Families gathered in the streets to watch the mansion that was engulfed in flames. Despite the hour, it was actually a very lively scene.
Tang Jinnian navigated the crowd and reached his room in the inn, firmly shutting the door behind him. As the crowd faded away, he took out the Transcendence Stone. The shimmering specks inside the stone shone like the vast starry sky; Tang Jinnian was momentarily entranced.
Eventually, the fire at the Zhou residence was finally extinguished, and the street outside Tang Jinnian's window had quieted down. The dead of night was punctuated only by the occasional chirping of insects and the barking of dogs.
Tang Jinnian was absorbed in examining the stone when his senses flared in alarm. His body instinctively shifted backward as a dagger flew through where his chest was and embedded itself into the wall beside him. Tang Jinnian sprang to the window to search for the assassin to see a lithe figure leap across the opposite building and disappear into the night like a cat.
"Such recklessness," Tang Jinnian murmured as he shook his head. Aware of the intruder's impressive agility, he didn’t plan on pursuing her tonight. He closed the window and prepared to go to sleep.
The following day.
Tang Jinnian slept well into the morning. When he finally set out of the inn, it was already noon. He walked into a restaurant by the street, sat by the window on the second floor, and called the waiter to bring some food. Leisurely, he sipped from the teacup on the table. With the cup to his lips, Tang Jinnian suddenly grinned as if he had discovered something funny.
Tang Jinnian tilted his head back, evidently enjoying his tea. Before he could set the cup down, a short sword stabbed through the second-story window!
Whoosh—
A figure violently burst through the window wielding a short sword in her hands. Who could it be other than Flowerless Butterfly Rao Shuang?
Joy flashed in her eyes, it seemed like she had caught Tang Jinnian off guard. Her short sword in her hands did not falter in the slightest, stabbing straight toward him!
Tang Jinnian maintained his drinking posture as if he was truly unaware of the imminent threat. At the last moment, another figure swooped down from the beams above, powerful legs landing squarely on Rao Shuang's back!
Rao Shuang was floored by that stomp and lost her grip on her short sword. Her weapon clattered to the floor and she fell to the floor by Tang Jinnian's feet. The one who descended from the beams had one foot on the ground and the other firmly pressed down on Rao Shuang's waist.
Pinned to the ground, Rao Shuang struggled furiously but was unable to get away. Tang Jinnian finished his tea, not even glancing at Rao Shuang by his feet.
"Miss Rao, did you come here for lunch too?"
Rao Shuang had a sickly pale complexion. It was clear that she had yet to recover from yesterday’s injuries.
"Give me back my fan!" Rao Shuang spat as she glared at Tang Jinnian,
"How can you say that, Miss Rao? You traded your fan for your life," Tang Jinnian replied nonchalantly as if Rao Shuang had merely stopped by for a chat. "It's my fan now… and that's that, Miss Rao. Goodbye, I won’t be seeing you off."
As Tang Jinnian finished speaking, the person stepping on Rao Shuang's back grabbed her collar and flung her back out through the second-floor window.
Tang Jinnian leaned out to admire Rao Shuang flip in the air and land gracefully. She shot him a resentful glare before turning and blending into the crowded street.
This meal cost Tang Jinnian twenty taels of silver, five taels for the food, and fifteen taels for the window.
No matter how strong you are, you should still pay for what you break, Tang Jinnian thought as he strolled down the road. Soon enough, he left the city to venture toward his next destination, Zhejiang. Although it would be a long journey, he had to go to retrieve an item.
Tang Jinnian was not afraid to stray off the beaten path to save some time. He plotted out a direct route in his mind, primarily trekking through the mountains where the forest stretched out endlessly as far as the eye could see. Few people traveled through these mountainous forests because the terrain was rough, and there were no paths to choose from. However, Tang Jinnian did not mind, blazing through the forest as if it were no different from a paved street in the city.
Tang Jinnian suddenly stopped, suspiciously surveying his surroundings, but didn’t find anything unusual. Carefully, he kicked a small rock into the clearing ahead, watching closely as it bounced forward and hit something. In the lush forest, the mechanical click of a mechanism triggering was especially obvious. With a flash, throwing knives crisscrossed the area that the rock passed through.
"Petty tricks," Tang Jinnian muttered, a frown appearing on his face.
Rao Shuang, who became a Heaven-ranker as a Marital Master, had remarkable abilities; her varied assassination techniques seemed endless.
That night, Tang Jinnian found a tall tree, jumped onto a branch, and leaned against the trunk to get some rest.
At midnight, the sound of a weapon tearing through the air woke him up and he quickly flipped to the ground.
When Tang Jinnian landed, he looked up to see that Rao Shuang stood where he had been sleeping, and was twisting her short sword out of the tree trunk.
"Flowerless Butterfly, do you want to die?" Tang Jinnian asked as he narrowed his eyes. He was genuinely incensed at the repeated disturbances.
Rao Shuang remained deadly silent. She leaped down from the tree and again charged at Tang Jinnian with the short sword!
"Such recklessness!" Tang Jinnian shouted as he leapt up from the ground and struck with his right palm toward Rao Shuang.
Rao Shuang boldly slashed at Tang Jinnian's outstretched hand. Tang Jinnian neither dodged nor flinched, grabbing the oncoming blade with his gloved right hand, sending sparks flying. Pulling the sword forward, Rao Shuang, who was unable to let go in time, was yanked into his arms!
Tang Jinnian locked down the short sword with his right hand and struck heavily with his left elbow on Rao Shuang's back!
In the blink of an eye, it was all over. Rao Shuang initially had the jump on Tang Jinnian but she somehow ended up being subdued in one strike.
"Uh!" Rao Shuang grunted as she took the heavy elbow strike, plummeting to the ground like a bird with broken wings.
Rao Shuang crashed onto the forest floor, winded. She had not recovered from her previous injuries and the recent fight only worsened her condition. She lay on the ground, blood trickling from her mouth.
Tang Jinnian landed steadily, walked over, and looked down at Rao Shuang as she stared up at him with a bloody face full of resentment.
Tang Jinnian withdrew the brocade fan he claimed yesterday and crouched down to meet her eyes.
"You want this fan so badly?"
Rao Shuang bit her blood-stained lower lip, not speaking, her face defiant.
Tang Jinnian used the fan to lift Rao Shuang's chin, tilting her head to face him and asked, "I’m asking you."
Rao Shuang hesitated and then nodded.
"Heh… even more than you want to live?" Tang Jinnian asked with a mocking tone.
Rao Shuang hesitated, then a glint of determination crossed her eyes before she solemnly nodded again.
Seeing Flowerless Butterfly's cherry lips part open slightly with no response, Tang Jinnian leaned in with the intention to keep ridiculing her for her repeated assassination attempts. Suddenly, a silver light flashed from her mouth at his face!
Tang Jinnian's expression changed; he immediately pushed off the ground with his legs, rapidly retreating backward! The silver light grazed his nose and flew into the sky.
By the time Tang Jinian dodged the hidden weapon and came back to look for Flowerless Butterfly, she had already disappeared without a trace.
Tang Jinnian's gloomy expression resembled a thundercloud barely holding back its fury.
Although it was still dark out, Tang Jinnian did not plan to sleep again so he pressed on with his journey.
Rao Shuang rushed through the dark forest, occasionally coughing. Her clothes were now completely soaked in blood, and her right arm hung limply by her side. It had been dislocated when Tang Jinnian caught the sword and disarmed her.
Rao Shuang knew her current injuries were serious, and without proper treatment, she might never properly recover. But I must take my fan back! Rao Shuang thought, her resolution firm in her gaze. That fan was her signature weapon and her master's legacy, the only one of its kind in the world and completely irreplaceable.
But that man was beyond terrifying. What could she do to get her brocade fan back?
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